Could you push the Nuclear Button?

I can't speak for the Navy submariners simply because I don't know the procedures for Trident operations. As for the Air Force, that’s one of the questions asked during crew selection and as part of the continuous PRP process for all nuclear certified personnel. As an operator or maintainer on those critters you’re always scrutinized as to your dedication, mental acuity and understanding of what it means to “push the button.” In other words, do you really understand the gravity of your profession and what you may be ordered to do? If there is any doubt to a launch officer’s ability to turn keys then they’re removed from duty. One must also understand the launch crews do not live in a vacuum. There are continuous intel briefings and know much more about the state of the world than the average person on the street. Also, as with any profession, operations and maintenance in the ICBM fleet are continually undergoing some kind of evaluation. It’s suppose its very similar to developing “muscle memory.” You practice, simulate or perform a task so often that it becomes second nature. So if/when the balloon goes up I have no doubt the crews will turn keys. I know I would.

Sadly, I know I could.
Sometime during the height of the cold war, somewhere in the north Atlantic, in a 640 class boat.
We were suppose to have a WSRT (weapons system readiness test), the OOD screwed the pooch and said "man battle stations missile for strategic launch", everyone was shitting themselves but every last man did their job and was ready to pull the trigger before the word was passed that this was "just" a WSRT. This remains some 35+ years later the closest thing to PTSD I have. I can't talk or write about it without a fit of emotion.

Yes. It is not my call to make whether or not I push the button. It's my job to actually push the button. The people making that call are sitting in intel briefs weighing the odds. Maybe we are making a first strike against one of their remote missile silos. Maybe we are stopping a global catastrophe. Or maybe we're just sick of it all and going for global conquest. I don't know and it's not my job to know. My job is to push the button when I'm told to.

What I do know though is that if it were actually my job to push that button, I would make damn sure my family was protected in the event of retaliation.

If the order came down, then it meant that there were inbound missiles coming our way and within the next 30 minutes all that we know is going to vaporize in a flash of light. So, yeah I would return the favor without hesitation and then kiss my own ass goodbye.

Spent 15+ years as a SAC aircrew member, so answer is an absolute yes. One needs to understand all the checks and balances in the system, so if you receive a validated execution message it's your job to carry out the orders.

How the hell would you stop me? It is button, it must be pushed, that is its destiny. I am a great many things for my country, but a guardian of unpushed buttons I am not. Ask Geraldo Rivera's camera crew.

Seriously though, let's be honest. Just because you are in the military doesn't make you an alpha type. That is a title I would confer only upon a few people. The guys who are charged with the final controls of a nuclear missile are not alpha types. They are non-aggressive individuals who follow orders. That is what makes them special. They do not take charge, they do not take initiative. They follow the orders they are given.

If it came to saving American lives, then not only would I do it just because it was an order, I would WANT to do it.

I was an FTG1(SS) on the first generation of missile boats(George Washington Class) I stood watch in the Torpedo Room and Missile Control Center. Home ported in Pearl. We had discussions about this. We knew that if the SHTF, Pearl, where our families were, would be one of the first targets and that they would be gone. The unanimous decision was to support the captain if the launch order came down.

There can certainly be questions about whether nuclear deterrence actually deters all our adversaries. Former president Aminablowjob of Iran is definitely one of those who might seek nuclear holocaust as a means of ushering in an Islamofascist Armageddon.

But what we hope is that our people's willingness to push the button, if so ordered, is what keeps the guy on the other side from pushing the button. I know there are doubts about nuclear deterrence, but it has worked for 70+ years now, which is certainly a better track record than the UN has, for example, in preventing war.

That's a critical component of "deterrence". Its not just enough to have the missiles just sitting there in a silo waiting to be launched. You have to have the right people pulling alert, ready to run the procedures, do the authentication, and turn the keys. I am glad that we have the folks that will unequivocally say "YES, I will do it."